Read, You Must: LEGO Star Wars Character Encyclopedia

It seems like it wasn't that long ago that we reviewed the "Updated and Expanded" 2015 edition of DK's LEGO Star Wars Character Encyclopedia! However the incredible amount of Star Wars movies and TV that has come out in the last 5 years, it makes sense that there's a need for a "New Edition" for 2020.

The LEGO Star Wars Character Encyclopedia provides a one-sheet "file" on each character. Some major characters like Luke Skywalker have many sheets for each film appearance. Others, like Ewoks, all share one spread.

There are details about the character's place in the story as well as the LEGO minifig itself. Represented here for the first time are characters from The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, Rogue One, Solo and most recently The Rise of Skywalker.

That's a lot of new characters, or new versions of familiar characters, so to make room there are many characters not represented in this 224 page edition. Most notably absent are any characters that fall into the "Legends" category (outside the official timeline) which was a whole section in the 2015 version. Also gone are the behind-the-scenes pages.

What is here is multiple colourful images and interesting info on over 200 Star Wars minifigs, including some rare and exclusive releases.

Like many other DK LEGO Star Wars books, this comes with an exclusive minifig! With this book you get an exclusive Darth Maul minifigure, based on his appearance in Solo: A Star Wars Story. 

For LEGO Star Wars fans and collectors, this update is full of updates and info you'll want to have!
 
(Publisher's Recommendation: Ages 9 - 12)

LEGO Star Wars: Choose Your Path

"Be the Hero, Discover the Galaxy!"

What path will you choose? LEGO Star Wars fans will certainly enjoy LEGO Star Wars: Choose Your Path, a new book from DK publishing, written by Simon Hugo (Star Wars Insider magazine).

From the first page readers make a choice about what era of Star Wars they wish to explore in their adventure. 

The storyline choices are:

- "Hunt the Sith" with Obi-Wan Kenobi in the time of (roughly) Episodes 1 - 3

- "Fight the Empire" with Princess Leia in the time of Star Wars Rebels up to Episode 6

Comes with U-3PO minifig!

- "Defeat the First Order" with Rey in the time of Episodes 7 & 8

What follows is 120+ pages of full-colour LEGO Star Wars fun and a decision to make on each page. Like with other books with this story format (check out the recent Choose Your Destiny: Han & Chewie Adventure), decisions can certainly have dire consequences, or happy endings! There are more than 40 potential endings, and many ways to get there.

Your personal guide for this adventure is a silver protocol droid named U-3PO who will accompany the adventure for whichever storyline is chosen. There is also a glossary at the back for better understanding some of the uniquely Star Wars vocabulary words.

LEGO Star Wars: Choose Your Path is generally lighthearted and fun like most LEGO Star Wars books, games & shows. Some things happen a bit differently in the LEGO Star Wars galaxy than in the movies.

Although this book includes connections to the The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels characters, surprisingly there seems to be no inclusion of the Freemakers from the LEGO Star Wars The Freemaker Adventures TV show.

If you've never read this type of book before, the experience itself of flipping from one section to the next - all over the book - can feel like a wild goose chase itself. Reading a book structured this way is like more like playing a game than reading a novel.

It's an entertaining "game", but the back cover puts it a little more seriously though: "The fate of the galaxy is in your hands! Which path will you choose?"

Choose your path & have some fun with this book.

Publisher's recommendation: Ages 6-9

Big News for Young Star Wars Fans!

Star Wars Celebration 2017 has come to an end and over the 4 days in Orlando, Florida fans were treated with plenty to get excited about. Yes, of course the biggest news was the first look at the upcoming movie The Last Jedi (out December 2017). Seeing moments of Rey training, Finn recovering, Leia leading and more were unquestionably the highlight of the weekend. If you haven't yet seen the teaser trailer, view it here. 

In the months up to the December premiere, books, comics and more will be released under the banner "Journey to The Last Jedi".

Nearly every site on the internet will have something to say about the new images, teaser poster and trailer for The Last Jedi, so we're going to focus on a few pieces of news that will be specifically interesting to Star Wars Kidscast readers and listeners:

New Comics!

Comic publisher IDW announced that in September 2017 they will begin publishing Star Wars comic books specifically aimed at younger readers. The Star Wars Adventures will have familiar characters from many eras of our favourite galaxy. 

There have not been Star Wars comics specifically created for younger readers in several years so it's exciting to see that happening again! Here's more information.

Marvel Comics will continue publishing their excellent Teen-rated comics as well. It's a great time to be a Star Wars comics reader!




New Books!

Daring Adventures Volume 1 & 2!

Lucasfilm/Disney Publishing announced several new books for younger readers, including a BB-8 picture book (above), more additions to the World of Reading leveled reader series, a new book called The Legends of Luke Skywalker and a Leia-focused YA novel. As well, there are "Daring Adventures" books to tie directly into the new Forces of Destiny cartoons coming soon!

DK Publishing also announced new titles, including an update to 2015's Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know and new book for tech-minded younglings: Star Wars Coding Projects! 

New TV!

A bittersweet announcement was made regarding Star Wars Rebels - yes, there's a new season of Rebels coming this fall, but it will actually be the final season of the show. What happens to the crew of the Ghost in the next season is anyone's guess but it sure looks like it'll be exciting!

Before we see any more Rebels though, this summer will debut a brand-new animated series of short stories called Star Wars: Forces of Destiny. We wrote about these new shows here. There will also be new toys and books connected with this series too! More on this as announcements are made! Here's a new clip:

Fans of LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures have a second series to look forward to starting May 4. The fun and excitement continues as the Freemakers start to fight in their own way against the Empire! More info on season two is available here.

This is far from a complete list of everything we're excited about from the past few days, but it sure is plenty! More new info on upcoming fun Star Wars stuff is coming soon!

What are you most excited to see that was announced at Celebration? Comment below!

Two “Amazing” Books for Young Fans!

First there was the entertaining and informative Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need To Know, then the must-have Star Was study guide Ultimate Star Wars. Now DK Publishing continues its streak of cool books with far-from-modest titles with two “Amazing” books for Star Wars fans. 

Where Absolutely Everything and Ultimate are in-depth books that would appeal to a wide age range, the Amazing books are clearly created for younger fans.

First came the Amazing Book of Star Wars and now the Amazing Book of LEGO Star Wars for fans who prefer the galaxy in brick form.

Each book comes with plenty of detailed visuals, facts, trivia, fold-out pages and a large poster as well. The Amazing Book of Star Wars comes with a life-sized poster of BB-8 as seen in The Force Awakens (and hopefully the upcoming The Last Jedi). The LEGO edition comes with a folded poster of the LEGO Millennium Falcon.

DK has published LEGO editions of their own Star Wars books before, including Star Wars in 100 Scenes and the Star Wars Character Encyclopedia. DK has published many books that are a little more deserving of the word "amazing" on the cover (Year by Year immediately comes to mind) but these books are still sure to please a young fan.

The LEGO editions of each book are essentially the same book but usually add a little extra humour to go along with the nuggets of info. Both books are 48 page hardcovers and loaded with images for readers to pour over. Whichever you choose, you'll have plenty to enjoy.

Publisher’s Recommendation: Ages 6-9

LEGO Star Wars: Chronicles of the Force

For LEGO-loving Star Wars fans, LEGO Star Wars: Chronicles of the Force offers a photo-filled, lighthearted look of all things Star Wars. Everything from major character groups (Empire, Rebellion, First Order, bounty hunters, etc.) to vehicles, planets and starships are here.

  

Chronicles of the Force gives an overview of how and where things fit together in the Star Wars galaxy across 96 pages of full-colour, up-close photos. For collector/builders there's also info about the various sets available.

Written by Star Wars experts Adam Bray and Cole Horton (co-authors of Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know), characters from all SEVEN Star Wars feature films (I love saying that!) plus The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels and more all appear.

The past few years have brought plenty of hilarious LEGO Star Wars on TV (The Yoda Chronicles, Droid Tales, etc.) and in books like LEGO Star Wars In 100 Scenes. This book, while fun and entertaining, is a little closer in tone to the LEGO Star Wars Visual Dictionary with a bit of the humour and look from Absolutely Everything You Need to Know.  

Like many LEGO Star Wars titles, this one also includes an exclusive minifig: “Unkar’s Brute”. 

Unkar's Brute: Not that one...THAT one!

Exclusive Minifig!

To be honest, when I saw this minifig I really wasn’t sure who this was supposed to be despite having seen The Force Awakens, well, a LOT of times. Turns out he represents one of the two thugs that was trying to steal BB-8 from Rey after she refused Unkar’s offer of “60 portions”.

For LEGO fanatics and casual fans alike Chronicles of the Force is a fun way to explore the whole Star Wars saga!